I've had a heavy heart this week for one of our precious Awali Land families, the McNeals. Those of you who know the McNeal family know that they are just the best...and their kids are absolutely awesome. I actually had Judson, their oldest, in my Sunday School class for two years...and John Michael, their middle one, is in my daughter's class on Sundays. Well, their youngest son, James (3-years-old), is in very critical condition in ICU up in Boston right now. He has viral pneumonia brought on from RSV (very serious...parts of his lungs started collapsing, and other parts are leaking air)...and his little body is just struggling. The last day has brought about a little encouragement...he has not gotten any worse...but he is still in very serious condition. You can read their whole story, as well as updates on how he is doing, on their Caring Bridge site: www.caringbridge.org/visit/jamesmcneal


Please do check out their site, send them encouraging messages, and let them know we love them. We can't wait to have James back in Awali Land, bringing smiles to everyone's faces as he always does. And please pray...pray, pray, pray...for James, and for Tom and Brandie. We pray God's arms will just wrap them in His love and give them peace and comfort during this difficult and scary time. And we pray that James will heal quickly and be back home playing with his brothers very soon!

James in his Awali Land class with Miss Lesleigh

AWESOME family!!!

THANK YOU FOR PRAYING!!!!!!!

It's been a weird, sad, crazy, complicated year so far.

But God is good.

Last night I went to a viewing for a sweet 19-year-old young man, the brother of a little boy who I taught in Sunday School for two years. He died in a car accident last Friday. So suddenly. So tragically.

But God is good.

I marvelled at the strength and peace in the hearts of his parents. I couldn't help but imagine if it were my own little girl in that casket and wonder if I would be that strong. You could feel God there...literally and physically feel Him in the love and support that surrounded that family.

God really is so good. Even when the world is not. God is.

So today I'm hugging my children a little tighter. I'm praying a little longer. I'm giving a little more of myself. I want to share Christ a little more, serve people with a little more passion, and love with a little more of my whole heart. I don't want to take what He has given me for granted. I don't want to waste the time I have worrying about little things.

I may not have tomorrow.
I may not even have the rest of today.
But I have this moment.
Right now.
So what am I doing with right now?

So I got to hang out with some pretty cool 3-year-olds tonight. Our Young Preschool area is busting at the seams on Wednesday night...which is really great because that means we have lots of parents attending service or helping with other ministries...but we are definitely experiencing some growing pains with lots of kids and not so many volunteers at the moment. Anyway...we had to split up the 2s and 3s...a move that's a bit overdue (we kept waiting to see if we'd get more volunteers...but the sheer number of kids made our procrastinating no longer an option) :).

It went really great. CJ (one of our awesome volunteers, and my friend) and I hung out with the 3-year-olds for the hour. We basically just played - we built castles with blocks, we cooked fake food, we roared like dinosaurs, we rocked a little toy baby to sleep, and we dug into a little play-doh. I say we "just played", but it's really so much more than that.

Preschoolers are amazing. I love their growing minds, their endless curiosity, and their dramatic love. They live through play, they learn through play, and one of the best ways we can make connections with them and build relationships with them is by getting on the floor with them and just play with them. I had a blast...and I got to know some pretty neat kids.

If I had chosen to "just babysit" them...sitting on my litle stool or chair and just quietly observe them playing, only intervening to settle a dispute over a dinosaur or stop a kid from throwing the blocks across the room, I would have missed out on so much...I would have missed chances to ask them questions, to laugh with them, to learn about them, and most importantly to tell them God loves them and be an example of God's love to them.

I'm so glad that our God is not a God who just watches us from heaven, only waiting to step in when absolutely necessary or just to tell us to stop throwing blocks at eachother. He gets down on our level...He LIVES LIFE with us and in us and through us. So how do we live life with preschoolers? How do we share this great big love of God with them? I think one huge thing we can do is simply PLAY with them. Play opens the door to their world, and allows us to build that trust and relationship with them.

So get on the floor with your preschoolers...show them God's love in action. A little play can go a long way...

So I've been looking for some new ideas for this year...nothing really specific...I've been searching for craft ideas, event ideas, training ideas, gift ideas...just lots of different ideas. And I've been getting this new magazine in the mail (some random free magazine I got for some reason...who knows) called "wonder time". It's put out by the Disney family of magazines (it's similar to Family Fun....just geared more toward toddlers and preschoolers). ANYWAY...I looked up their website just to see if there were additional ideas on there...and I think I'm adding to my list of places to look for great ideas. I just thought any of you moms or Sunday School teachers out there might like to at least check it out. There's tons of crafts, games, activities, and other stuff...especially useful to those of us who work with and have little ones. So check it out...there's some cute Valentine's Day ideas too! :)
http://wondertime.com

Okay, so I've pretty much done a stinky job at keeping up with this blog the past couple of months. I could blame it on the holidays, but honestly it's probably more the result of my own laziness and procrastination. But I'm back now. I think I'm working into more of a routine in my daily life, and I'm hoping to blog at least two or three times a week (maybe more if I do fantastically awesome at managing my time...but we're not going to push it right now ;) ). So anyway, if you serve in Awali Land...whether you're a full-time/every-week teacher, or if you just serve once a month...or if you fall somewhere in the middle...PLEASE check back here often. I'm going to be quite intentional (well, most of the time anyway) about writing things that will help you, encourage you, cast our vision, ignite a passion for our little ones, give you ideas to make your Sundays easier (or at least keep you from pulling your hair completely out ;) ), or guide you to become the very best servant and leader you can be. I'm hoping you will feel free to ask questions, make comments, and share ideas. I am absolutely passionate about our nursery and preschool ministry. I think what you guys do every week is making an eternal impact in the lives of our little ones and their families. I just want to support you and help you along this wonderful journey as we partner with parents to give our children "a first impression that's a lasting impression."

So check back later...

Last Saturday, I took a group of our volunteers to Atlanta for a Children's Ministry Magazine LIVE Workshop: Faith That Grows. We had a great time! I was so excited to be able to take some of our volunteers there, for some training and encouragement. I think everyone that went took away some really practical ideas and I hope they left feeling more equipped to minister to our little ones. Here's a few general thoughts that I took away from the event:

• We often use language that has no relevance or meaning to our children.
• We should start with what they already know and build upon it.
• When teaching children, we should frequently check for meaning and explain difficult concepts.
• Use an easy-to-understand Bible translation (...more on this later)
• "You can remember any new piece of information if it is associated to something you already know or remember."
• Children remember 10% of what they hear or read and 90% of what they do...wow!
• Question: Do the seeds we plant go deep?
• Do we turn God's Word into spinach by using bribes to get kids to memorize verses? (I will definitely share some more thoughts on this in a future blog!)
• There is a difference between rewards and bribes. A reward is an "unexpected delight"...I love that definition.
• "It's not about how smart you are, it's about how you are smart"...cool thought! More on this to come...

All in all, it was a GREAT workshop! I got a lot out of it, and I'm sure I will be using some of the ideas and thoughts from it in future training events ;)

The next few blogs I do will go into a little more detail about a few of these thoughts...good stuff, so be looking out for it! :)

So here's my last post on brain-based learning stuff. This is just so interesting to me...but I'm ready to move on to some other thoughts soon...so here you go...my final points:

Because the brain functions better with lots of water, resulting in enhanced alertness...

• we should allow children access to water and provide rest room breaks.
• we should not discourage drinking water simply because we don't want to take rest room breaks.

Because the brain is stimulated by aromas that enhance alertness and memory...

• we should provide aromas like peppermint, lemon, cinnamon, and rosemary to stimulate alertness and lavendar, orange, and chamomile to regulate stress. Smells have a direct expressway to the brain, which is why they are so important in the learning process. They are literally only a synapse away. :) I find this very interesting...especially since I love smells...they really do affect my emotions and alertness...interesting...

Because the brain reacts to colors that enhance brain activity...

• we should think about the impact of color on a child's learning. Color coding enhances the retrieval process. Bright colors stimulate neurons in the brain (ever wonder why most infant and preschool toys are so brightly colored???...could be there's research to back the importance of color? ;) ).
• we should avoid stark, boring, colorless environments.

Did you know...

• Eating on a pink table cloth makes you eat more
• Seeing something red will get you motivated
• A blue lightbulb in your refrigerator will make you eat less
• Yellow alerts your visual system, so writing on yellow paper will make you remember it more (which is why sticky notes are commonly yellow)
• Purple makes you more creative, so writing with a purple pen will really help you get your creative juices flowing!

Something to think about, anyway....